Publicações FAST

Resumo: This case history presents an innovative teaching initiative implemented within the Business Management and Entrepreneurship course of the undergraduate degree in Tourism in Rural and Natural Areas at the Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra (Polytechnic of Coimbra). The initiative responds to growing calls for active, experiential, and industry-connected pedagogies in higher education. The initiative aimed to bridge the gap between academic learning and the realities of rural and nature-based tourism entrepreneurship by engaging students directly with practitioners. Students conducted online interviews with rural tourism entrepreneurs and collaboratively developed Business Model Canvases grounded in real operational contexts, which were shared with participating businesses. Gamification principles were embedded throughout the learning design to enhance engagement, motivation, and teamwork. The learning experience was further enriched through a field visit to na alumni-led wine tourism project, open lectures with regional tourism investment stakeholders, and an international online session on smart and participatory tourism governance. A distinctive outcome of the initiative was the production of an educational documentary and a thematic video capturing entrepreneurs’ perspectives on how higher education institutions can better support the tourism sector. Qualitative evidence collected through observation, student outputs, and informal feedback indicates high levels of engagement, perceived relevance of learning, and development of entrepreneurial and transversal skills. The case demonstrated that experiential, industry-engaged, and gamified learning approaches can contribute to enhancing tourism entrepreneurship education while fostering university-industry knowledge xxchange in rural contexts.